Welcome to another healthy recipe post, for oil free roasted chickpea crisps! I was inspired to make these the other day because I’ve been chowing down on too many unhealthy snacks lately. The house that I’m living in right now is usually well stocked with potato chips, tortilla chips, cookies, and other deliciously tasty (but bad-for-me) snacks. And I’ve been having a hard time resisting.

That’s where chickpea crisps come to the rescue! Through some trial and error, I found a way to make chickpea chips baked in the oven that use no oil. I also use low salt and no sugar, so I know they’re way better for me than the potato chips I’ve been munching lately! They definitely still hit the spot though.

Because they’re made from chickpeas, they’re also a high protein snack with lots of good fiber too. All in all, I’m pretty excited about this healthy snack recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

What Are Chickpea Crisps?

I think of chickpea crisps, or chickpea chips (chickpea crackers?) as a healthy alternative to any other kind of chip that you would buy at the store. Most store bought chips– whether they’re potato chips, tortilla chips, Doritos, pretzels, or even those sneakily advertised “veggie chips” are made with a lot of oil, and a lot of salt & sugar in the seasoning. Yes, even the veggie chips that are advertised as “healthy” have a lot of oil and salt in them.

When I make chickpea crisps at home, I take cooked chickpeas, dry them out on a towel for about an hour, and then roast them in the oven at a high temperature to get them slightly crispy and crunchy.

The fun part though, is tossing them in your favorite spices before baking to create unique flavor combos!

Roasted Chickpeas Recipes, Unlimited Flavor Options

You can make chickpea crisps with savory flavor combos, or sweet. I started making them to curb my chip cravings, so I tend to keep them savory. But there really are endless possibilities!

In this recipe I’ll share 6 flavor combos that I really like:

1. Mexican flavor
2. Ranch
3. Chili Lime
4. Sweet sesame ginger
5. Parmesan
6. Salt & vinegar

Obviously there are more combinations than just these. But if you don’t know where to start, these flavor combos are tried and tested by me.

If you want to try making your own, you can simply use a small dash of salt, and then add your favorite spices. I think inventing flavors is really fun. Not every combo I test is a winner, but I still enjoy the creative process.

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

A quick note about the spicy roasted chickpeas (Mexican and Chili Lime)– BE CAREFUL with the cayenne pepper. I learned this lesson the hard way, but it’s a powerful spice! A little goes a long way.

I don’t have a high spice tolerance at all, so there’s a chance you may find the amount I used to be not spicy enough. A lot of these roasted chickpeas recipes are trial and error– and tailored to the individual. So if you find some of the spice combos that I used to be not enough heat, not enough salt, or too much garlic, etc. simply play around with the amounts.

At the core of this recipe is (1) a preparation process to follow, (2) a bake temperature, and (3) a baking time to get the chickpea crisps at the proper level of crisp/crunch (though even this can be tailored to your wants). So any spices you use in addition to that base is up to you!

Roasted Chickpea Chips, No Oil

For those who read my blog regularly, you probably know very well by now how I feel about oil used in cooking. I try to avoid it as much as possible, and stick to a whole foods plant based diet.

Oil is essentially a source of pure fat that has very little nutritional value otherwise. When you eat an avocado for example (a classic high fat food), your body gets so much more than just fat from it. Avocados have fiber, antioxidants, Vitamin C, Magnesium, etc. Oil though, has none of these things. It’s just… fat.

Our body also processes pure fat (oil) vs. an avocado very differently. And as I’ve written about many times before, the main difference is in the fiber.

If you’re curious to learn more about the health benefits of ditching oil, I recommend you check out my health post on the topic!

Back To The Chickpea Crisps Recipe…

As I mentioned, I came up with 6 flavor combos that I really like. Here’s a breakdown of how each one is made:

Salt & Vinegar Chickpea Crisps:

1. Apple cider vinegar
2. Salt

Mexican Chickpea Crisps:

1. Salt
2. Chili powder
3. Cumin
4. Garlic powder
5. Cayenne pepper

Ranch Chickpea Crisps:

1. Apple cider vinegar
2. Garlic powder
3. Onion powder
4. Dried dill
5. Dried parsley
6. Salt
7. Black Pepper

Parmesan Chickpea Crisps:

1. Cashew “Parmesan cheese“

Chili Lime Chickpea Crisps:

1. Lime juice
2. Lime zest (optional, but nice)
3. Salt
4. Chili powder
5. Smoked paprika

Sweet Sesame Ginger Chickpea Crisps:

1. Soy sauce
2. Maple syrup
3. Ground ginger
4. Sesame seeds
5. Garlic powder

For the “Parmesan cheese” one, I linked to a pasta blog post of mine that shows how to make Cashew-parm in the recipe instructions. It’s basically just 3/4 cups of whole unsalted cashews, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 3-4 TBS nutritional yeast ground up in a blender to form a powder. Boom! Vegan Parmesan.

I love making that stuff, and sprinkling it over all kinds of dishes. Pasta, sandwiches, Buddha Bowls, avocado toast, etc.

How To Make Healthy Chickpea Crisps

Finally, time for the chickpea crisps recipe! But first, a quick note:

When I cook, I always make industrial sized batches, lol. Because while I love cooking, I don’t love spending hours in the kitchen every single night, every day of the week. So when it comes to this recipe, feel free to cut the amounts in half if you don’t want to make as much!

Back to the recipe. Start with 8 cups of cooked chickpeas. These can be from a can (Four 15oz cans), or you can cook them from dry using an Instant Pot/pressure cooker. 2 cups of dry chickpeas will make 8 cups cooked.

I allot 4 cups of cooked chickpeas to each flavor option. So in this example, 8 cups of cooked chickpeas, will give me 2 batches and 2 flavors. You can split this up differently if you want to try more than one flavor per batch.

Drain and rinse your chickpeas and gently pat them dry on a towel. Let them sit on the counter for about an hour to continue to dry up. Preheat oven to 400 F.

Transfer 4 cups of chickpeas to a large bowl. Mix your flavor seasonings evenly in a small cup and then pour them over the bowl and toss your chickpeas in the spices. Repeat the process with your remaining 4 cups of chickpeas, with a different flavor.

Spread the chickpeas evenly on a bake tray (you can use different trays to separate the flavors), and bake for 45 minutes– checking every 15 minutes and occasionally stirring for even browning. Watch closely for the last 10 minutes, as they can easily burn.

Remove from the oven, and cool for 10-15 minutes before eating.

For maximum crispiness, turn off the oven, crack the door, and let them cool in the oven for 1 hour!

As you can see, this roasted chickpeas recipes is pretty simple, but does require some care to make sure things aren’t burned, etc. That’s why I like making big batches all at once. That way I can make a ton of chickpea crisps on a single day, possibly 2-4 different flavors, and enjoy chickpea chips in the evenings all week long! That’s usually when I get the itch for a snack, late at night after dinner when I’m winding down with a TV show. So for me, having healthy snacks around is a must at times!

How To Store Roasted Chickpeas

These chickpea crisps store really well. I’ll be honest, I usually eat my batches within a week, so I haven’t really tested whether or not they will last for longer than a week. But I would imagine that they would.

I store mine in mason jars in my pantry or just out on the counter. I don’t recommend storing them in the fridge, as condensation could get in your container and possibly make your chickpeas moist/soggy again.

Closings Thoughts On Healthy Chickpea Chips Snack

That’s really all there is to this recipe! It’s simple, maybe slightly fussy, but in my opinion really tasty and really worth it.

I like experimenting with spices to come up with new flavors, but I also like sticking to my tried-and-true ones too.

I also really love that this is a truly healthy snack I can feel good about eating. Chickpea chips are high protein, high fiber, low fat, low salt, low sugar– what more can you want in a healthy snack?!

If you try this recipe out, I hope you like them as much as I do! And if you do try them, I’d love to know what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading.

Tags: Snack